The semiconductor chips are typically provided on a foil held by a frame, which is also known in the field as a tape, for processing on a semiconductor mounting apparatus. The semiconductor chips adhere to the foil. The frame with the foil is accommodated by a displaceable wafer table. The wafer table is displaced in order to supply one semiconductor chip after the other at a location and the supplied semiconductor chip is taken up by a chip gripper and placed on a substrate in cycles. The removal of the supplied semiconductor chip from the foil is supported by a chip ejector (known in the field as a die ejector) arranged beneath the foil.
A method for detaching a semiconductor chip from the foil is known from U.S. Pat. No. 7,115,482, in which a die ejector is used having several plates disposed adjacent to one another. The plates are lifted either jointly for detaching the semiconductor chip and then lowered sequentially from the outside to the inside, or lifted sequentially from the outside to the inside in order to form a pyramidal elevation protruding beyond the supporting plane. Such die ejectors and methods are also known from U.S. Pat. No. 8,250,742, US 2010-252205 and U.S. Pat. No. 8,092,645.